Nehemiah 4:22

At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day."

Many years ago, during a period of exceptional need, the church we were then part of adopted the hymn Work for the Night is Coming as its anthem.  There were few, if any days that someone wasn’t working at some project on the church, parsonage or the grounds.  It seems as if Nehemiah knew that song too, but maybe sang it differently: “Work for the night is coming; then work all night too.”  That’s right; it appears that after a long day (sounds like it was daybreak until too dark to work) of carrying rock, mixing mortar and such, the folks were expected to pull a tour of guard duty during the night, and then start again at daybreak.  That’s exhausting work! 

1 Thessalonians 5:10

He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Comments:
This verse expresses in one short phrase the way that Christ saves lost sinners: He died for us.  The Savior endured suffering and death in my place, as my substitute (for us). This simple preposition makes it clear that salvation is of the Lord, not by works. The Bible does not say that Christ did something “along with” us, as though we contributed to accomplishing our own redemption. It does not say that He went “before” us, setting an example and blazing a path so that we could follow it to find our salvation. Rather, He died for us, doing something that we could not do ourselves, nor even contribute to accomplishing. He is not our example or our helper in salvation, but He is our all-sufficient and only Savior.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NASB)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

Comments:

Sometimes you will hear it said of a person that he or she is “destined for greatness.” Or, on the other hand, someone may be tagged as “destined to fail.” Such predictive declarations are a bit presumptuous for us mere mortals to make. The future is largely unknown to us, and God may dispose affairs in ways quite beyond our expectations. There is one thing about my destiny, however, that I know with confidence: I am destined to escape the wrath of Hell and to obtain Heaven’s glory.

Sermon outline for Sunday, August 30, 2009, by Pastor Richard C. Klueg

When a Plan Comes Together

Luke 9:22

1 Thessalonians 5:8   But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

Comments:
You have heard the saying, “The best defense is a good offense.” The idea is that by attacking those who threaten you, you will hopefully take them out before they can hurt you. There is some wisdom to that, but it is only partially true. When engaged in a conflict, you need to find the right balance between defense and offense. Someone who is “all defense” may hunker down in a bunker deep in the earth, but a determined attacker will eventually break through, or eventually just starve the defender out. Someone who is “all attack,” however, will likely find himself cut down quickly as his enemy takes advantage of his extreme vulnerability. Perhaps we should change the saying: “The best defense is a defense that protects you so that you can survive to mount and carry through an offense!”

Sermon preached on Sunday, August 23 by Pastor Richard C. Klueg

E Pluribus Unum

Luke 9:18-21